


The Glow of The Cities Below Lead Us Back

by Lyoung_50



Series: Places We Never Should Have Left [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Disavowed Lightwood kids, First Meeting, Internalized Homophobia, Jace Wayland is the Hardest Character to Write, M/M, criminal elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 05:37:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyoung_50/pseuds/Lyoung_50
Summary: “Jace,” Alec sighed heavily, leaning down to lift a box from a stack by the front door with ease. “You saw the news. There are people looking for us, we have to be careful. We don’t have the luxury of a glamour or even the Clave anymore. If they find us, they’re going to throw us behind bars. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in some mundane prison?”“Oh, c’mon, Alec. You really think we’re going to let some werewolf track us down?”“We’re not Shadowhunters anymore, Jace!”





	The Glow of The Cities Below Lead Us Back

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this, but here we are. I had the idea to try to something about Disavowed Shadowhunters basically looking like criminals even though they're just doing their jobs and we ended up here. This is part one in what is going to be a (hopefully) long series, but I want to get a read on what everyone's thought on this are before continuing, so please let me know! I appreciate comments and critiques equally!
> 
> Feel free to come give me a hard time on tumblr: inquisitor-lightwood-bane

“Hey. Are you just gonna sit there? We’ve got all this gear to bring inside still.” Jace sighed, setting down a duffle bag on the dingy coffee table. Alec was settled on a weathered-looking leather recliner, watching the television intently. 

“Have you seen this?” He pointed at the screen to where the news was playing. The screen read “Detective Luke Garroway” under the man that was speaking to reporters. 

“Seriously? A werewolf is the guy they’ve got looking for us?” Jace scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Alec nodded in response and thumbed the remote to turn up the volume. 

“We are currently working diligently to get any leads on the location of the Lightwoods, if you have any information please contact the New York Police Department as soon as possible. The siblings are wanted for several counts of robbery, breaking and entering, and aggravated assault. We have worked with a sketch artist to provide these renderings of what the suspects are believed to look like.” A set of three sketches popped up on the screen and Jace squawked in disbelief. “If you see these individuals, please do not approach them as they are believed to be armed and dangerous.” 

“That doesn’t look anything like me! Why can no police sketch artist ever capture this beauty correctly.” Alec didn’t respond to Jace’s statement, choosing instead to throw a pillow at his brother’s head. 

“No, don’t worry, I’ve got the rest of the gear.” Isabelle groused loudly when she shouldered the door to the room open, her eyes narrowed at both men in front of her. She maintained direct eye contact with Alec when she dropped her mud-covered boots on the coffee table. His nose wrinkled instinctively. 

“We’ll come help in a second.” Jace waved a hand dismissively. “They’re talking about us on TV again, Iz. We’re superstars.” 

“They got my hair wrong again,” Isabelle grumbled, her eyes rolling. “Honestly, it’s not that hard. Who is that? He doesn’t look like a cop.” 

Alec swung his gaze back to the television and his eyes settled on the man staring back through the screen. The man’s dark hair looked as though it had been purposefully tousled to look like he’d just rolled out of bed and his eyes that were rimmed with kohl looked almost otherworldly. 

“Magnus Bane,” Jace read from the scrolling text under the man’s face. “What the hell kind of name is that?” 

“It says he’s a psychic, are you really surprised?” Alec piped in, lifting his coffee mug to his lips. 

“That’s true...it’s probably a made-up name.” Jace’s head bobbed in an aborted nod of agreement. “That’s definitely a first, huh? I don’t think anyone else has stooped quite as low as hiring a psychic to catch us.” Alec barely heard the statement, his eyes still trained on Magnus as he ran his thumb over his lower lip. “C’mon, man. I know that look.” 

“What look? I don’t have a look!” 

“You have a look and it’s your ‘handsome guy alert sirens are blaring in my head’ face. Relax.” Jace’s hand was a solid weight as it patted his shoulder teasingly. Truth be told, Alec obviously had noticed how handsome this psychic, Magnus, was. Even through the grainy picture on their stolen television, he was absolutely stunning. 

“He’s just a guy.” Alec mumbled in response, standing and stretching his back out slowly. He bit back a groan when his spine slowly popped one vertebrate at a time. A life of crime was hell on his joints. 

“Whatever you say, Alec.” Jace smirked, turning toward the door to head back out to finish bringing the gear inside. They had been holed up in a massive abandoned church on the outskirts of the city for months now and no one had stumbled across them yet. 

Alec pushed himself out of the chair, stretching until his spine let out a few jarring cracks. He groused quietly to himself about getting old while heading toward the door to help Izzy and Jace. He scratched absently at the black inked skin on his arm as he went, trying not to think about the power that had once been contained in that skin. That was a wound that was still too fresh to pick at without it tearing open painfully. 

“I heard some chatter through the ring earlier, by the way.” Jace said, going for nonchalance and missing it by a mile. Alec quirked a brow upward as he leaned to lift a box with a few pilfered weapons. 

“And?” 

“And there’s a nest of rogue vamps down by the docks. By the Jade wolf, that sketchy Chinese restaurant.” 

“We just got back…” Jace pulled a shrug, his hand going to push his hair back out of his eyes. 

“So? Why wouldn’t we go check this out? How often do we get a chance to drop in on a vamp nest?” 

“Jace,” Alec sighed heavily, leaning down to lift a box from a stack by the front door with ease. “You saw the news. There are people looking for us, we have to be careful. We don’t have the luxury of a glamour or even the Clave anymore. If they find us, they’re going to throw us behind bars. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in some mundane prison?” 

“Oh, c’mon, Alec. You really think we’re going to let some werewolf track us down?” 

“We’re not Shadowhunters anymore, Jace!” Alec snapped, his brow furrowing as he turned, clutching the box to him tightly. “We’re not as strong, not as fast, and we definitely don’t have the resources to stand up to them. You’re going to get us killed if we don’t stay ten steps ahead of these people.” He saw Jace’s chest rise and fall with an exasperated sigh and he knew that Jace knew he was right. 

“We could at least go try to sweet talk our way into some information from that pretty boy psychic that they’re working with.” The smug smirk on his brother’s face made Alec’s eyes roll so dramatically that he was mildly concerned that he was going to pull a muscle. 

“You’re so not helpful, you know that?” He mumbled, dropping the box carefully and nudging his way past Jace. 

“He really could have some information that could be useful. It’s not just a ploy to get you to talk to the cute guy, man.” Jace’s brow went up along with the smug grin that graced his handsome face. “But…that’s definitely a bonus. So, you want to go talk to him or should I send Izzy?” 

Alec sighed quietly and raked a hand through his messy hair before both hands settled on his hips. Jace was right, he knew that. But he also knew that his…penchant for handsome guys is what got them in the situation that they all found themselves in to start with and he didn’t know if he was quite ready to let it have an effect on him again so soon. 

“I’ll go talk to him.” Jace clapped him on the shoulder with a brilliant grin. 

“Perfect. I’ll figure out the address and let you know. Gear up.” **************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 

The apartment building wasn’t what Alec had expected at all. Every mundane, self-proclaimed psychic that he’d ever encountered had been oozing grandeur (however undeserved) and flaunted the money they’d earned from unsuspecting people in their houses, cars and clothes. 

Magnus’ apartment was, while still rather large for New York, humble. Alec raised one hand and pressed his finger against the buzzer next to the name “M. Bane”. There was nothing but static through the intercom for a moment before a handsome face popped up on the video screen next to the speaker. 

“Oh, well hello there. Aren’t you a pleasant surprise.” Even through the tiny video screen Magnus’ smile was radiant and Alec could feel a blush creeping up his neck like wildfire. “Are you here for a consultation?” 

“I…yeah, consultation.” Alec stammered with a jerky nod. 

“I don’t have anything scheduled, but I have some free time. Come on up.” Magnus’ face winked off of the screen and the front door buzzed as it was unlocked for Alec to push it open. 

He took the stone stairs to the sixth floor two at a time and pointedly ignored the muscle fatigue that he’d never had to combat as a Shadowhunter when he reached Magnus’ floor. He lifted a hand to knock on the massive, black door but stopped short when it swung open. 

“Knocking again seems a little redundant doesn’t it, Mister…?” 

“Wayland. Alexander Wayland.” Alec extended his hand. Using Jace’s last name was still odd to him, he’d spent his entire life being so damn proud of the fact that he was a Lightwood that pushing it away was foreign still, but he knew that half the city knew his last name. And Magnus was absolutely part of that population. 

Magnus caught Alec’s hand in his own and turned his arm over to inspect the black ink that was woven around it where his runes had once been. Now they were nothing more than a painful reminder and looked like he was sporting mass amounts of tattoos. 

“These are interesting.” Magnus’ free hand lifted and his emerald green polished fingers traced the ink over the curve of his bicep, causing Alec to shudder. His voice was barely above a whisper when it reached Alec’s ears. “What do they mean?” 

“They’re, uh,” Alec silently cursed himself for the flush he felt going through his face and settling in his cheeks. “Just tattoos. Family tradition.” 

“Are you sure?” Magnus circled him with the grace and intimidation of a sleek jungle cat, his hands tracing over Alec’s shoulders as he did. “I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before. And these seem like very specific tattoos to be familiar.” 

Alec could feel panic slowly starting to creep up in his throat as he watched Magnus’ eyes trailing over the runes. There was something hiding in those brown eyes, something…unique that Alec couldn’t quite put his finger on. That is until they flicked from a chocolatey brown to ethereal gold-green and the pupils elongated into slits. 

“I’ve banished people from my home for lesser transgressions than lying to me, Shadowhunter.” Magnus growled out, his index finger hooking under Alec’s chin to draw his gaze up. 

“You’re a warlock.” Alec breathed out, his eyes widening slightly. He fought the urge to reach for his back. His bow and quiver weren’t there anyway. 

“Astute observation, Alec. Now, tell me. Why are you here?” With a fluid wave of his hand, Magnus’ blue magic crackled from his fingertips and curled around Alec’s throat. It didn’t tighten like Alec half expected, instead it caressed the skin, urging him to speak. 

“You’re looking for us. We needed information.” He confessed before he could stop himself. 

“Your tattoos aren’t the only thing you’ve lied to me about, are they?” Alec shook his head slightly under the warm magic’s urging. “Talk to me.” 

“My last name isn’t Wayland.” He couldn’t have stopped himself from talking if he’d wanted to. “It’s Lightwood.” 

“Is it safe to assume that you’re one of the illusive Lightwoods that I’m helping the esteemed NYPD to track?” 

“Yes.” Alec’s voice was small to his own ears and he sucked in a gasp when the magic released his throat. 

“Tell me why I shouldn’t hold you here until I can get Garroway to haul you off to prison.” 

“We haven’t done anything wrong.” Alec countered, his large hand going to rub at his neck. Magnus raised a skeptical brow. “Not really, anyway.” 

“What are a bunch of Shadowhunters doing assaulting people in back allies late at night?” Magnus waved a hand at the door absently as he crossed to the bar cart in the center of the room and Alec knew that if he were to attempt to make a break for it, he would encounter a locked door. 

“We aren’t assaulting people. We’re fighting demons. Rogue down worlders. We’re doing our jobs.” He spat, his arms going to cross over his chest. Magnus Bane may have been attractive, but he was certainly rubbing Alec in all the wrong ways. 

“And why, pray tell, are you doing so without glamours? You know what an issue this is causing? The NYPD wouldn’t be looking for you if you weren’t allowing yourself to be seen.” 

“We…can’t.” He suddenly felt like he was thirty seconds from crawling out of his own skin for how uneasy he was. 

“Because?” Magnus didn’t look up at Alec as he poured himself a drink, some sort of blue concoction that Alec was certain was syrupy sweet. 

“Because I wasn’t lying when I said these are just tattoos.” He gestured at the side of his own neck weakly. 

“What happened?” Alec huffed, his chest heaving, and his eyes darted around the apartment desperately looking for something, anything, other than Magnus to look at. The magic around his throat was gone but he couldn’t stop the words from boiling up. He’d held this in for so long, been cut off from any connection to the Shadow World that just wanted to talk to him, not one that he had to kill, that it was almost euphoric. 

“I’m sure you heard. Everyone heard.” 

“Yes, well. Forgive me, but I prefer stories straight from the source as opposed to third hand gossip. I’d like to hear about this from the mouth of Robert and Maryse’s allegedly deviant son.” He rolled his hand in the air in a ‘continue’ motion and plopped himself onto the leather love seat, one leg hooking over the other as he looked at Alec through glitter and kohl rimmed eyes. “Take a seat, Alexander, it’s only polite.” 

Alec wiped his palms on his jeans and did as he was told, settling himself onto the edge of the leather sofa. His hand came up to rub the back of his neck absently and he wondered where he was supposed to start. There was so much that had brought him to where he was now that he didn’t know what was relevant and what wasn’t. 

“I’m…gay.” He guessed that that was as good of a starting point as anything. 

“I could’ve guessed as much, darling.” Magnus chuckled sarcastically as he sipped his drink. Alec opened his mouth to protest but Magnus held up a hand to stop him. “Your closeted gay energy walked into my apartment before you did. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Alexander. Keep going. How’d you end up here?” 

“My parents…I told them, and they didn’t react well. I didn’t mean to tell them. It just happened. They were talking about setting me up with this girl, Lydia, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped and told them.” Alec rubbed a hand over his eyes, and he pinched his nose slightly. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to talk about it, but there was something about Magnus that made it impossible to not tell him. It wasn’t, however, something magic. He could tell that. It was something…else. “They were just going to kick me out. Have me de-runed. It was going to hurt like hell, but it was just going to be me.” 

“But…?” Magnus prompted when Alec was silent for a few moments. Alec held his hand out a bit helplessly in an almost shrug. Before he could curl his fingers back to his palm there was a glass filling his hand with the same blue concoction that he’d seen in Magnus’. 

“But Isabelle wouldn’t let me. She told them if I had to go, she was coming with me. I tried to tell her she didn’t have to do that, that she didn’t have to lose her runes for me, but she’s stubborn.” He shook his head slightly, lifting the glass to take a sip. Sugary liquid slipped over his tongue and he hummed appreciatively. 

“Then there was Jace. Jace punched my dad right in the face. In front of everyone. I suppose that was less of a surprise than Izzy. Jace is my parabatai. We’re closer than brothers. He loves being a shadow hunter, though, it’s all he’s ever wanted to do.” 

Alec was acutely aware that he was rambling, but he also couldn’t stop himself. 

_‘Great work, Lightwood. You’ve known this guy twenty minutes, why not spill the entire tragic backstory?’_ He mentally chastised himself. 

“I’m sorry that their fear caused them to treat you the way that they did, Alexander.” Magus’ voice was soft, and it made Alec’s head snap up to look at him. The warlock was looking at him over the rim of his glass with an unreadable expression that made Alec squirm under the gaze. 

“It’s…they were right to do it. Shadowhunters aren’t…they’re not like me.” He whispered, setting the half empty glass on the table between them to link his hands together. He hid a wince when he felt his own nails digging into his palms enough to distract himself from the outpouring of words that he’d just thrown at Magnus. 

“You are exactly who you’re meant to be. They are the ones that should be ashamed of what they are.” Alec was up and off the couch before he knew what was happening, his hands still clasped together. 

“You don’t know anything about them.” He wished more than anything that his voice hadn’t cracked when he’d said that, but he knew that it had. 

“You’re right, Alexander. I don’t know them, and I don’t know you. But I know what it’s like to be hated for what you are.” Magnus set the drink down on the coffee table and stood, coming to stand in front of Alec with a sad look. 

“Are you going to call Garroway to come get me or can I go?” Alec questioned, keeping his gaze on a point over Magnus’ shoulder, being sure not to meet the warlock’s gaze. He tried very hard to pointedly ignore the scent of sandalwood that permeated the air around Magnus and how close the man was standing. 

“I’m not going to call Luke.” Alec couldn’t hide the shock on his face at that. 

“You’re not?” 

“I’m not. Alexander, if you’re doing your job and keeping the mundanes safe from the rogue down worlders then prison is not where you belong. You do need to be more careful, though. If you’re going to be fighting them in plain sight, at least cover your face. Someone isn’t going to be as understanding as I am.” Alec’s head bobbed in a dazed nod. 

With a wave of Magnus’ hand, the front door clicked open behind them. 

“Thank you.” Alec mumbled, his hands going to stuff themselves into the pockets of his jeans. 

“You don’t need to thank me. When you’re ready to talk, you know where my apartment is.” Alec wanted to tell Magnus that he didn’t plan on coming back any time soon, but the warlock simply rolled his eyes as if he could read Alec’s mind. “Eventually you’re going to need someone to talk to other than those stubborn siblings of yours.” Magnus reached a hand out and Alec swiftly ducked out of its path. 

“Goodbye, Magnus.” He forced out before he turned on his heel and stalked out the front door and back out into the stifling New York air. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 

“What’d the psychic have to say?” Jace asked around a mouthful of turkey sandwich when Alec walked back into the common area of the church, shrugging out of his jacket. “He tell you your fortune? We gonna be millionaires?” 

“Well,” Alec started, stretching the word for a few second while he pondered how to cover what the visit with Magnus was like. “He’s not a psychic, for one.” 

Jace’s overdramatic gasp had him shooting his brother an unamused glare. 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Izzy mumbled from her perch on a worn-out barstool where she was sharpening a blade. 

“He’s a warlock.” The blade let out a screech as it rolled off the end of the sharpening stone and it was followed by a silence that hung in the air between all of them. 

“Come again?” Jace sat up a bit straighter. 

“He’s a warlock. He knows about us.” 

“Alec! Why would you tell him that?” Jace snapped. “What’s stopping him from going to the Clave and telling them he found us?” 

“He’s not going to. I trust him.” 

“You trust him? You were gone for half an hour. The hell do you mean you trust him?” 

“I don’t know, okay!” Alec snapped, his muscles tense and his eyes smoky with anger when he wheeled around to face Jace. “There’s something about the way he was saying that we’re just doing our jobs that…I just believe him. He’s not going to out us.” 

“You’re thinking with your stele, Alec. This is dangerous, he could have us killed.” Jace lowered his own voice, not rising to meet Alec’s rage like he may have when they were younger. “You gotta see where I’m coming from here, right?” 

“I get it, Jace. I do. Just…trust me?” Alec pleaded, his hand landing on Jace’s shoulder as he caught the golden gaze that made him think immediately of Magnus’ warlock mark. 

“I do, Alec. You know I trust you. And,” Jace heaved a sigh and bobbed his head in a nod. “If you say that he’s not going to out us, I guess I’m good with that. I just hope you’re right.” 

Alec couldn’t help the relieved breath as he stepped back and dropped into his recliner. 

“We should invest in masks or something. Since we can’t glamour.” Alec added, remembering what Magnus had mentioned. 

“Your warlock boyfriend tell you that?” Jace questioned as he resumed eating his sandwich with a smug smirk. 

Alec may not have been a Shadowhunter anymore, but he was still able to launch himself out of his recliner and tackle Jace off his stool with surprising speed.


End file.
